Home for the Holiday

Ah, finally relaxing in Virginia Beach with my mom and our two pups (she owns Archie's brother, Murdoch)! I learned my lesson from my drive to Harrisonburg last weekend, so I made a point of stopping to use the restroom on my way down--twice. In 3 hours. I usually like to drive straight through without stopping, but when a girl's gotta go, a girl's gotta go!

Archie's obviously not very happy with me.

It's been nice just spending time with my mom so far. Yesterday the pups went in to get groomed. Archie went in looking like an overgrown bush of fur and came out...BALD! Eek! But he's so soft and he's still my little gentleman. I think he was a bit mad at me on the car ride home, and not to mention he was exhausted from hanging around all the other doggies at the pet groomers. My mom has been trying to steal him from me and I have been debating whether she should watch Archie for the next month until I'm done with exams and all moved into the new place. But I really don't have exams and I'd be so sad without the cutie. And now that he's all groomed, he's ready to strut his stuff! Not to mention he's my new running buddy.

The other nice thing about being home is that there's a Trader Joe's and my mom buys me some groceries--there isn't one in Charlottesville, but supposedly they are planning to build one within the next year or so. I got some essentials and helped my mom find some healthy choices for herself. She's trying to lose weight and even though she doesn't listen to me half the time I have been telling her what to look for and what she should stay away from. It's a bit hard though, because I've been looking at products for he from a future-competitor standpoint and she just wants to get healthy/fit.

All curled up and nowhere to go!

Last night we did have a long discussion about cardio and weight training though. The gym my mom goes to down here has a program where you get one free training session per month. The trainers write up a card with exercises/reps/weight amounts so you can reference that while you are working out. It's alright in theory, but it doesn't target specific body parts and is more of a "total-body toning" sort of thing. My mom has kept all her cards, so she cycles through them every so often, modifying the reps and weights, but to work off of one card day after day for an entire month isn't going to do anything. The trainer she sees once a month also doesn't incorporate free weights into her workout, so I was telling her the importance of doing so. I also suggested that she switch up her cardio, and although she said she does, I'm trying to get her to understand the importance of pushing herself outside her comfort zone. I may make a preliminary workout/diet for her for a week/month and see if she likes it.

Graduation dress??

It's kind of funny because since I've been training, I've really wanted to help out other people with their fitness goals. A few coworkers at LOFT have been asking me for tips and I'm always willing to help, but none of them go to the same gym as me. I've almost gone as far to do a plank behind the registers (when there was no one in the store) in a dress to show my assistant manager how she can help tighten her core since she had an adorable baby boy several months ago. I've been toying with the idea of taking more classes in either exercise science or nutrition so I can get a degree in that field, but I would have to go through James Madison University to do so, and both traveling there and the cost could be an issue. We will see--that's an issue for another blog post at a later date.

Before my mom and I head out (we are thinking of meeting up with my sister at her school about a half hour away for a baseball game-- LOVE baseball!), I do want to mention that I finally talked to Kevin about the July show. I don't know why I was so nervous about bringing it up. But he said that if I don't feel ready, that's definitely best and the extra few weeks will definitely help. I mentioned my qualms about not looking like I fit in up there with the other girls, and how my diet isn't where it should be. The thing is, I'm eating the right foods, but with classes, it's been a little restricting, so I find myself eating a lot of supplemental protein products--bars, shakes, etc.--rather than actual lean protein sources like chicken, fish, and ground turkey. So that HAS to change, and will be easy to do so once classes end--so soon! We also both agreed that it's hard since I do have a lot going on in the month of May. I'm so relieved that I've made this decision! When I get back to Charlottesville I'm meeting up with someone to discuss nutrition and prep further, so I can't wait!

Archie & I say Happy Easter!

And now--take me out to the ball game! But please don't buy me any peanuts OR Cracker Jacks! Enjoy your Saturday!!